'Foodography' Archives

First Look: Frasca crew will open Pizzeria Locale next Wednesday...with a one-of-a-kind oven

By Lori Midson Thu., May 23 2013 at 2:41 PM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson.

Chris Donato, Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson, Bobby Stuckey and Jordan "Bruiser" Wallace.

"We're the slowest movers ever," quips Bobby Stuckey. "We waited six years to do a remodel of Frasca and more than nine years to do something away from our little corner in Boulder." Stuckey, along with Chris Donato, Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson and Jordan "Bruiser" Wallace, are the dream team behind Frasca Food and Wine, which opened almost a decade ago in Boulder. It's unsurpassed success was then followed by Pizzeria Locale, a Neapolitan-style pizzeria, which sits directly next door to the Friulan wonderland of foodstuffs, and, finally, after years of lusting on the part of Denverites, the foursome will open a second Pizzeria Locale in the Golden Triangle in Denver next Wednesday.

More »

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

First Look

Exclusive first look: Live Basil Pizza opens Thursday in south Denver

By Lori Midson Mon., May 20 2013 at 3:20 PM

Categories: First Look, Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson.

Tom Ryan and his partner Rick Schaden are on a roll -- a burger roll, a 24/7 restaurant roll and a pizza roll. The two men, both of whom are the entrepreneurial brains behind Consumer Concept Group, one of the country's top companies in the field of restaurant development and investment, founded Smashburger, which now trumpets more than 220 locations across the world, including 22 in Colorado. Last year, on Halloween, they unleashed Tom's Urban 24, a 24/7 food temple that's also expanding outside of Colorado, and on Thursday of this week, Ryan and Schaden will open Live Basil Pizza, their first fast-casual pizza chain, located just off I-25 and Hampden...and conveniently next door to Smashburger.

More »

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Open and Shut Cases

Exclusive first look: Pizza Republica opens tomorrow in the downtown theater district

By Lori Midson Thu., May 16 2013 at 3:49 PM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson.

Pizza palaces, as we reported earlier today, are peppered throughout the downtown Denver restaurant landscape, and while some of those same pizzerias that opened within the past year have since shuttered, Pizza Republica, the original of which resides in the Landmark development in Greenwood Village, has proven that it has staying power (not an easy feat in the 'burbs). And tomorrow, at 11 a.m. owner and executive chef George Eder will open a second outpost of Pizza Republica at 890 14th Street, directly next door to the Colorado Convention Center, and given its prime location (and what may the city's best patio to date), we're willing to bet that downtown denizens will greedily chew it up (and not spit it out).

More »

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Photos

Photos: Zanitas opens with Mexican grub and margaritas in south Denver

By Lori Midson Fri., Mar. 22 2013 at 1:41 PM

Categories: First Look, Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson

Zanitas Mexican and Margaritas, which originally opened in Boulder in August of last year -- and then shuttered just four months later -- is back in business, this time in south Denver, right off I-25 and Hampden in a new retail and restaurant development that also includes a Smashburger.

More »

Tags:

margaritas, Mexican, Zanitas

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Foodography

Exclusive first look: Moontower Tacos opens in Capitol Hill

By Lori Midson Mon., Feb. 25 2013 at 5:57 PM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson.

Y'all know how I roll: Tacos rule my universe, and now, there's a new spot -- Moontower Tacos -- giving me (and the rest of you who agree that tacos are the equivalent to enlightenment) another reason to ballyhoo their virtue.

More »

Tags:

Moontower Tacos

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Photos

Exclusive first look: Old Major, Justin Brunson's "elevated farmhouse cuisine" restaurant, is now open in Highland

By Lori Midson Mon., Feb. 25 2013 at 9:05 AM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson

On Saturday night, as I studied the menu at Old Major, I nearly burst into tears. At one point, some time later, I did exactly that, right after my first taste of foie gras; there would be more liberal shavings of that exquisite foie on the cassoulet, which hinted at a "foie surprise." And more sappy tears of joy that followed.

And, indeed, Old Major, the Highland restaurant that chef Justin Brunson has spent months putting together with an undisputed dream squad of cooks and chefs, bartenders and wine geeks and front-of-the-house professionals, is a restaurant that's striving to be a confluence of unassailable cooking (with gorgeous compositions to match) in a striking setting that's neither too pretentious nor too casual with service that's as refined and graceful as an orchestrated ballet -- but without the snoot.

More »

Tags:

Justin Brunson, Old Major

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Foodography

The Broadmoor's Salute to Escoffier dazzles with a luxurious display of decadence

By Lori Midson Wed., Feb. 13 2013 at 2:50 PM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson

Considering what lay ahead, Bertrand Bouquin, the executive chef of the Broadmoor, was incredibly relaxed. It was just hours before the swanky Colorado Springs resort and hotel pulled off -- with grace and ease -- the eleventh annual Salute to Escoffier, a monumental feast that trumpeted more than 100 dishes honoring Georges Auguste Escoffier, the legendary French chef, author and restaurateur.

See also:
- Slide show: Salute to Escoffier at the Broadmoor
- Photos: Seventy slobber-worthy snapshots from the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco
- Trends without end: chef predictions for 2013 include simplicity, local greens and pot

More »

Tags:

Bertrand Bouquin, Broadmoor, Salute to Escoffier

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Foodography

First look: Tamayo's million dollar remodel

By Lori Midson Fri., Feb. 1 2013 at 11:01 AM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Photos

Holy tequila! What a difference a cool million makes. That's the approximate coinage spent on remodeling Tamayo, Richard Sandoval's modern Mexican restaurant in Larimer Square that was closed just under four weeks to significantly upgrade the two-tiered space, which now looks like a brand new restaurant that fits beautifully into the fabric of one of Denver's most popular restaurant rows. In fact, more money crossed hands for the remodel than on the original opening -- and it shows.

More »

Tags:

Larimer Square, makeover, Mexican, remodel, Richard Sandoval, Tamayo

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

First Look

First Look: Duy Pham, along with Michael Degenhart, are behind the line at Epernay, opening tonight

By Lori Midson Thu., Jan. 31 2013 at 10:04 AM

Categories: First Look, Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Open and Shut Cases, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson

For the last several months, Duy Pham, who solidified his cooking prowess years ago at the long-departed, French-inspired Tante Louise, has been working on opening Epernay, a splashy new downtown restaurant and Champagne lounge near the Denver Center for the Performing Arts -- a restaurant with a small kitchen, and no hood or fryer. Instead, the experimental chef, whose last restaurant was in Pueblo, is taking advantage, he says, of new technologies.

More »

Tags:

champagne, Duy Pham, Epernay, fish, Michael Degenhart, sous-vide, sushi

Email to Friend

Write to Editor

Print Article

Foodography

Photos: Seventy slobber-worthy snapshots from the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco

By Lori Midson Fri., Jan. 25 2013 at 4:21 PM

Categories: Foodography, Midson: Gastronaughty, Photos

All photos by Lori Midson

Food, in all its lusty glory, was on display last weekend at the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco -- an immense marketplace of hedonistic gluttony that showcased more than 80,000 products from 35 countries, in every edible and drinkable ilk imaginable.

More »